Reports from the world about smartphones are pouring in vociferously as they continue to grow at a stupendous rate.

2010 has seen 55 million handsets being shipped which is a whopping 65% increase on an on-year basis. Nokia which enjoys the strongest presence in most European countries was the leader of the pack and chipped in with 38% of the total units shipped. The company saw an YoY growth of over 50%.

RIM which has a very strong consumer base in the US came in second by shipping over 10,500,000 units, which is a good 19% of the market. Apple which has jumped a staggering 130% to 8.7 million units this year riding on the success of iPhone, also managed to capture 16% of the market pie. The remaining two positions at the Top five were shared by HTC and Motorola who with 5.1 and 4.7% of the market share respectively lay ahead of competitors like LG, Sony and Samsung- the latter group accounting for the remaining 16% of the pie. Touchscreen saw a huge 187% jump, moving from 34% market share to 59% in the process.